I'm feeling a bit doom and gloomy about the economy. One possible bright side is that the people who live and work here in Vancouver, who make it a city and not a ghost town, may yet afford a place here. So take heart, Krystal.

It all has to do with this Asset Backed Commercial Paper problem. Don't run away from me. It won't be boring, I promise. And remember, I'm a money coach, I'm not an economist, so what follows may be way off base. But here's the future as I see it:

Joe wants to buy Sally's $300K condo. He doesn't have $300K available just then (he's not John Chow). So Joe goes to Friendly Credit Union or Big Bank to borrow the money.

In all the shopping hype across the border, a quiet revolution may go un-noticed. November 23 is Buy Nothing Day!

Like many Canadians, I muse about the future of the Cdn dollar relative to the USD.

Four years ago, Warren Buffet gave his opinion - prescient, per usual. If you haven't yet read him, this is a wonderful introduction. The reading really gets going when he starts describing Squanderville and Thriftville, as illustrative of economies.

Imagine Thriftville and Squanderville as two islands, he says. They have very simple economies - consuming only exactly what they produce. Each resident works 8 hours a day to produce, and consumes 8 hours/day worth of items.

Some of you may know I tasted the fiery tongue of the dragons when I auditioned for them last spring. It's an experience I won't soon forget! If you want a fun introduction to the world of business, money and venture capitalists, Dragons' Den on CBC is a must-view. And can you believe it? A bank robber known as the Penguin due to his waddling walk when he's robbed 20 banks in Vancouver WA (in the past 2 years) is a millionaire quite apart from his robbberies! Eccentric is one thing, but sheesh! Clearly, he could use some money coaching about his relationship with money!

Friday, October 26, 2007 7:30pm Pacific Baroque Orchestra Delirio Amoroso: Handel's Italian Years St. James Church (Gore & Cordova) Free admission As a 20-year old musical hopeful, Georg Händel (he hadn’t anglicized his name yet) took a trip to Italy to find out what was going on in that musical world. The Italians were singing (what else?), and the young composer quickly adopted an exuberant operatic style. “Il Delirio Amoroso” was one of three cantatas he composed at that time. In this concert you’ll not only hear what Händel wrote, but also what he heard.

I 'switched' a few months ago, and then so did my brother and last week so did my mom. While it has not been the problem-free experience I expected, there's no question: I've drunk the Apple kool-aid. So have a whole lot of other people. Sales this past quarter are up 29 - Hello, 29%! - over last year same time. Share prices jumped by 7% overnight.

(ahem, if I may say so, I did see this coming.)

In case you haven't heard, google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin keep their jet in Google's backyard, thanks to a deal they struck with NASA, who operates an exclusively federal runway on Moffett field.   Yup, for a price, NASA moved their jets over ...

I wonder:  would a highly successful money-coaching company founder (ahem, with a seminar series for single parents commencing in 2 weeks) park her plane in her backyard?  If Greg Kerfoot can convince the Vancouver port authority to give public waterfront to his stadium, perhaps I have reason to hope ...

I'm a money coach, not an economist, but my armchair take is that B.C. is going to feel the effects of the B.C. forestry industry's current woes. 

Forestry still accounts for 40% of our exports, but they face the following tough challenges:

1. US housing crunch = plummeting demand for lumber, and the forestry industry isn't really diversified across the globe.
2. Rising energy costs = harder to turn a profit
3. Pine Beetle has destroyed a decade's worth of timber
4. Our rising dollar = exports in general are less attractive.